Posted on 04/18/2018 6:45:34 AM PDT by Gamecock
TAMPA — Sabrina Pattie and her two sons love hockey. And they love the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So she and her husband, Ryan, took them to their first-ever Lightning game on Saturday: Game 2 of the first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the New Jersey Devils. They sat in Section 128, Row E — just five rows from the glass at Amalie Arena.
That’s where the 39-year-old first-grade teacher was sitting when a puck flew over the glass, past the safety net and slammed into her face.
"It’s not like they were center ice and this is a freak accident," her attorney, Loren Pincus, told the Tampa Bay Times. "They were right on the fringe where the net ends."
A medic quickly came to her aid. The Lawton Chiles Elementary School teacher was treated at a medical area in the arena, then taken to Tampa General Hospital.
Now Pattie wants to warn others about safety at hockey games. So far, she has missed two days of school and had to visit an optometrist to be cleared to start driving again.
The family doesn’t yet know the full extent of her injuries, Pincus said. She has experienced "post-concussion-type symptoms," he said, including numbness on the left side of her face along with that black left eye and knot on her forehead. But the lawyer said it could have been worse.
"If the puck would’ve hit her (horizontally) flat, we’re talking about losing vision," Pincus said. "She could’ve lost her eye."
Per team policy, Lightning representatives contacted Pattie the next business day on Monday. Team spokesman Bill Wickett also issued an apology on behalf of the team and said the arena adheres to all NHL safety guidelines.
"We are very sorry that Ms. Pattie was struck by a puck at our game on Saturday afternoon," the statement said. "The safety standards as they pertain to the spectator netting and minimum glass heights in all NHL buildings is set by the NHL and these standards are in place at Amalie Arena."
When fans attend any NHL game, they enter into an agreement that states neither the venue nor the hockey team are liable for any injuries.
Pincus complained that there hasn’t been a lot of sympathy for his client’s injuries. He’s heard arguments that amount to "you know what the ticket says, you know what the dangers are by stepping your foot in the arena. Why don’t you stay home?"
He said there were three other times Saturday when fans were hit by a puck near the area where Pattie and her family were sitting.
"I don’t think fans and people who are responding are aware of, No. 1, the severity of the injury, and No. 2, the frequency of how often it happens in that area," the lawyer said.
There have been a number of other incidents in the pastwhere fans were hit by pucks during a game. The most serious took place in 2002, when a girl was struck and killed by a puck during an NHL game in Columbus, Ohio.
The incident caused the NHL to implement mandatory safety netting at both ends of the rink behind the goalies.
Pincus said that his client has no plans to sue at the moment, but he said now may be a good time for the Lightning and the NHL to review whether the league’s safety practices are good enough to protect fans.
"This was a rocket that went in there to where she’s got a 6 and a 7-year-old sitting next to her," the attorney said. "Something needs to be done about that."
Two memories related to this (and I only went to a couple of hockey games over the years).
First one a woman gets hit with the puck and falls back into her seat and her husband is scrambling around on the ground looking for the puck and not checking on his wife.
Second one was a member of a groups that I was with and we got to te game a little late and were just getting to our seats when a woman with us gets eclectic clocked by te puck. She went down into her seat and the ushers and medics came running. They checked her out and said she was ok but she got invited back to another game and was given an opportunity to meet the players etc. she ended up with a bump right at her hairline for a couple of days that was about the size of half an egg.
Definitely need to be alert at hockey games.
Post 2.
When fans attend any NHL game, they enter into an agreement that states neither the venue nor the hockey team are liable for any injuries.
...
I don’t think what’s printed on the ticket means much, legally.
I LOVE hockey. But yeah, I’d be a little miffed if I got hit in the face with a puck. I realize it could happen, and I hope it doesn’t. Done. I’m not suing the team or venue (unless the venue was truly extra negligent).
When my son was little and played his very first game, another boy slammed into the boards and he lay there unmoving (I am not sure if they told him not to move or if he passed out) and the ambulance and paramedics came. I was absolutely terrified, and another hockey mom had to tell me “This doesn’t happen every game.” The kid ended up fine.
It isn’t badminton. Pucks aren’t beach balls.
Go Las Vegas Golden Knights!!!!!
I used to live on that street (where the house in your photo is)
Agreed. It seems whenever you go to a hockey game (or any other sporting event) you can look around and see a lot of the women/girls there are busy chatting on their phones, taking selfies, or talking among themselves and paying little attention to the game at hand. You can even notice it when you are watching at home on TV and the camera focuses on the crowd every now and then.
First one a woman gets hit with the puck and falls back into her seat and her husband is scrambling around on the ground looking for the puck and not checking on his wife.
“Honey! I got the puck! Yay!! Best game ever!!! Gonna go get it signed by the team!”
A friend of mine was almost killed when a car t-boned his. He was wary for a long time but he still drives.
The trick is to turn off the cell phone, lay off the deep conversations about your feelings, and actually watch the game.
I was sitting by 3rd base at an Orioles baseball game with my daughter when a bat came flying and hit the women sitting behind my daughter. The women was badly hurt.
The second thing I do is pay attention when play is on.
Geeeez Lady....Everyone knows that a two year old has more teeth than a hockey player.
She’ll be fine. Send her back out.
ML/NJ
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